Method and system for protection switching

ABSTRACT

A method is provided for protection switching in an optical network. The method may include establishing a baseline power level for a channel. The method may further include receiving a signal associated with the channel via each of a first path of the optical network and a second path of the optical network. The method may also include monitoring a power intensity of the signal received via the first path. The method may additionally include protection switching from the signal received via the first path to the signal received via the second path in response to a determination that the baseline power level exceeds the power intensity of the signal received via the first path by a predetermined threshold.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No.61/254,354 entitled “Baseline-Based Optical Signal Error Detection”filed Oct. 23, 2009, the contents of which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

This application also claims the benefit of U.S. provisional applicationNo. 61/254,364 entitled “Elastic Baseline-Based Optical Signal ErrorDetection” filed Oct. 23, 2009, the contents of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

This application is related to copending Patent Application entitled“Method and System for Protection Switching,” application Ser. No.12/686,611, filed on the same date as the present application.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to optical networks and, moreparticularly, to a method and system for protection switching in anoptical system.

BACKGROUND

Telecommunications systems, cable television systems and datacommunication networks use optical networks to rapidly convey largeamounts of information between remote points. In an optical network,information is conveyed in the form of optical signals through opticalfibers. Optical fibers comprise thin strands of glass capable ofcommunicating the signals over long distances with very low loss.Optical networks often employ redundancies to maximize performance andavailability. Such redundancies may include optical unidirectional pathswitched ring (OUPSR). With OUPSR, an optical signal may be transmittedvia two or more optical paths between the same source and destinationnode. An OUPSR device at the destination may include a photodetector pereach path to monitor signals received from the two or more paths. Basedon such received signals, the OUPSR device may select one of the signalsto be forwarded to a transponder or receiver at the destination node.For example, the OUPSR may determine, based on the photodetectormonitoring, whether one of the paths has experienced a loss of signal or“loss of light.” If a particular path experiences a loss of light, thenthe OUPSR may select another path to forward to the transponder orreceiver. Such selection may be referred to as a “protection switch.”

In order to accurately detect loss of light, photodetectors must oftenbe of high quality and carefully calibrated. Such calibration addscomplexity, time, and cost to the manufacturing process. If high-qualityand carefully-calibrated photodetectors are not used, noise introducedinto an optical system may cause operational problems in OUPSR. Forexample, amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise may be introducedinto an optical network. In certain cases, ASE may further increase innetworks including cascaded intermediate line amplifiers (ILAs). In thepresence of noise, an OUPSR photodetector may detect light induced bynoise even if a failure exists in a particular path, and thus, may notinitiate a protection switch. Thus, OUSPR photodetectors must beextremely accurate in order to differentiate between noise and actualsignal power.

SUMMARY

In accordance with a particular embodiment of the present disclosure, amethod is provided for protection switching in an optical network. Themethod may include establishing a baseline power level for a channel.The method may further include receiving a signal associated with thechannel via each of a first path of the optical network and a secondpath of the optical network. The method may also include monitoring apower intensity of the signal received via the first path. The methodmay additionally include protection switching from the signal receivedvia the first path to the signal received via the second path inresponse to a determination that the baseline power level exceeds thepower intensity of the signal received via the first path by apredetermined threshold.

Technical advantages of one or more embodiments of the present inventionmay provide methods and systems for calibrating a baseline power levelin connection with a protection switching device, and establishing athreshold in connection with such baseline power level such that theexpected noise in an optical network path is substantially less than arelative loss of light power level equal to the calibrated baselinepower level minus the established threshold. Accordingly, a measurementof intensity of a signal received via the path at a power level belowthe relative loss of light power level may indicate a “true” loss ofsignal, despite the presence of noise with an intensity that mayotherwise indicate a valid signal.

Embodiments of the present invention may thus allow for an economicallyefficient protection switching system that may not require high-qualityand carefully-calibrated photodetectors to correctly account for noise.

It will be understood that the various embodiments of the presentinvention may include some, all, or none of the enumerated technicaladvantages. In addition, other technical advantages of the presentinvention may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from thefigures, description and claims included herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and itsfeatures and advantages, reference is now made to the followingdescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example optical network, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 2A-2C are each flow charts illustrating a finite state machine inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example graph of intensity of a light signalassociated with a particular channel as detected by a photodetector,demonstrating an application of a baseline power level and a thresholdestablished by the state machine depicted in FIG. 2A, in accordance withcertain embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example graph of intensity of a light signalassociated with a particular channel as detected by a photodetector,demonstrating an application of a baseline power level and a thresholdestablished by the state machine depicted in FIG. 2B, in accordance withcertain embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 5 illustrates an example graph of intensity of a light signalassociated with a particular channel as detected by a photodetector,demonstrating an application of a baseline power level and a thresholdestablished by the state machine depicted in FIG. 2C, in accordance withcertain embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an example optical network 10. Optical network 10 mayinclude one or more optical fibers 28 operable to transport one or moreoptical signals communicated by components of the optical network 10.The components of optical network 10, coupled together by optical fiber28, may include nodes 12 a and 12 b and one or more optical add/dropmultiplexers (OADMs) 32. Although the optical network 10 is shown as apoint-to-point optical network with terminal nodes, the optical network10 may also be configured as a ring optical network, a mesh opticalnetwork, or any other suitable optical network or combination of opticalnetworks, and may include any number of nodes intermediate to nodes 12 aand 12 b. The optical network 10 may be used in a short-haulmetropolitan network, a long-haul inter-city network, or any othersuitable network or combination of networks.

A node 12 and/or OADM 32 may represent a Label Switching Router (LSR).One or more label switched paths (LSPs) including a sequence of nodes 12and OADMs 32 may be established for routing packets throughout opticalnetwork 10. For example, traffic may travel from source node 12 a,through zero, one, or more intermediate OADMs 32, to destination node 12b.

Node 12 a may include transmitters 14, a multiplexer 18, an amplifier26, and a splitter 24. Transmitters 14 may include any transmitter orother suitable device operable to transmit optical signals. Eachtransmitter 14 may be configured to receive information transmit amodulated optical signal at a certain wavelength. In optical networking,a wavelength of light is also referred to as a channel. Each transmitter14 may also be configured to transmit this optically encoded informationon the associated wavelength. The multiplexer 18 may include anymultiplexer or combination of multiplexers or other devices operable tocombine different channels into one signal. Multiplexer 18 may beconfigured to receive and combine the disparate channels transmitted bytransmitters 14 into an optical signal for communication along fibers28.

Amplifier 26 of node 12 a may be used to amplify the multi-channeledsignal. Amplifier 26 may be positioned before and/or after certainlengths of fiber 28. Amplifier 26 may comprise an optical repeater thatamplifies the optical signal. This amplification may be performedwithout opto-electrical or electro-optical conversion. In particularembodiments, amplifier 26 may comprise an optical fiber doped with arare-earth element. When a signal passes through the fiber, externalenergy may be applied to excite the atoms of the doped portion of theoptical fiber, which increases the intensity of the optical signal. Asan example, amplifier 26 may comprise an erbium-doped fiber amplifier(EDFA). However, any other suitable amplifier 26 may be used.

Splitter 24 may represent an optical coupler or any other suitableoptical component operable to split an optical signal into multiplecopies of the optical signal and transmit the copies to other componentswithin network 10. In the illustrated embodiment, splitter 24 mayreceive a signal from amplifier 26 of node 12 a and split the receivedtraffic into two copies. One copy may be transmitted via path 42 a,while the other copy may be transmitted over 42 b, in order to provideredundancy protection for the signal, as described in greater detailbelow.

The process of communicating information at multiple channels of asingle optical signal is referred to in optics as wavelength divisionmultiplexing (WDM). Dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) refersto the multiplexing of a larger (denser) number of wavelengths, usuallygreater than forty, into a fiber. WDM, DWDM, or other multi-wavelengthtransmission techniques are employed in optical networks to increase theaggregate bandwidth per optical fiber. Without WDM or DWDM, thebandwidth in networks would be limited to the bit rate of solely onewavelength. With more bandwidth, optical networks are capable oftransmitting greater amounts of information. Referring back to FIG. 1,node 12 a in optical network 10 may be configured to transmit andmultiplex disparate channels using WDM, DWDM, or some other suitablemulti-channel multiplexing technique, and to amplify the multi-channelsignal.

As discussed above, the amount of information that can be transmittedover an optical network varies directly with the number of opticalchannels coded with information and multiplexed into one signal.Therefore, an optical signal employing WDM may carry more informationthan an optical signal carrying information over solely one channel. Anoptical signal employing DWDM may carry even more information.

After the multi-channel signal is transmitted from node 12 a, the signalmay travel over one or more paths 42 (e.g., paths 42 a and 42 b) to node12 b. Each path 42 may include one or more OADMs 32, one or moreamplifiers 26, and one or more fibers 28 coupling such OADMs 32 andamplifiers 26.

An OADM 32 may include any multiplexer or combination of multiplexers orother devices operable to combine different channels into one signal. AnOADM 32 may be operable to receive and combine the disparate channelstransmitted across optical network 10 into an optical signal forcommunication along fibers 28. In addition, an OADMs 32 comprise anadd/drop module, which may include any device or combination of devicesoperable to add and/or drop optical signals from fibers 28. An OADM 32may be coupled to an amplifier 26 which may be used to amplify a WDMand/or DWDM signal as it travels through the optical network 10. After asignal passes through an OADM 32, the signal may travel along fibers 28directly to a destination, or the signal may be passed through one ormore additional OADMs 32 before reaching a destination.

Similar to amplifier 26 of node 12 a, other amplifiers 26 or opticalnetwork 10 may be used to amplify the multi-channeled signalcommunicated by OADMs 32. Amplifiers 26 may be positioned before and/orafter certain lengths of fiber 28. Amplifiers 26 may comprise an opticalrepeater that amplifies the optical signal. This amplification may beperformed without opto-electrical or electro-optical conversion. Inparticular embodiments, amplifiers 26 may comprise an optical fiberdoped with a rare-earth element. When a signal passes through the fiber,external energy may be applied to excite the atoms of the doped portionof the optical fiber, which increases the intensity of the opticalsignal. As an example, amplifiers 26 may comprise an erbium-doped fiberamplifier (EDFA). However, any other suitable amplifiers 26 may be used.

An optical fiber 28 may include, as appropriate, a single,unidirectional fiber; a single, bi-directional fiber; or a plurality ofuni- or bi-directional fibers. Although this description focuses, forthe sake of simplicity, on an embodiment of the optical network 10 thatsupports unidirectional traffic, the present invention furthercontemplates a bi-directional system that includes appropriatelymodified embodiments of the components described below to support thetransmission of information in opposite directions along the opticalnetwork 10. Furthermore, as is discussed in more detail below, thefibers 28 may be high chromatic dispersion fibers (as an example only,standard single mode fiber (SSMF) or non-dispersion shifted fiber(NDSF)), low chromatic dispersion fibers (as an example only, nonzero-dispersion-shifted fiber (NZ-DSF), such as E-LEAF fiber), or anyother suitable fiber types.

Node 12 b may be configured to receive signals transmitted over opticalnetwork 10. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a portion of themulti-channel signal through path 42 a may be dropped to node 12 b byOADM 32 a, and a portion of the multi-channel signal through path 42 bmay be dropped to node 12 b by OADM 32 b. Node 12 b may include an OUPSRdevice 80 and a receiver 22. OUPSR device 80 may include a selector 82and a switch 84. OUPSR device 80 may be configured to receive at least aportion of the multi-channel signal from each of path 42 a and 42 b and,on a channel-by-channel basis, selects which of the two signals to passto receiver 82. Such selection may be made on any suitable criteria,including bit error rate and/or power levels of the individual signals.

OUPSR device 80 may include a selector 82 and a switch 84. Selector 82may include a photodetector 86 (e.g., photodetectors 86 a and 86 b)associated with each path 42. A photodetector 86 may be any system,device or apparatus configured to detect an intensity of light andconvert such detected intensity into an electrical signal indicative ofsuch intensity. Such electrical signals from photodetectors 86 may becommunicated to decision module 88. Based on analysis of the electricalsignals from photodetectors 86, decision module 88 may determine, on achannel-by-channel basis, whether to pass the signal dropped from path42 a or the signal dropped from path 42 b. A signal indicative of suchdetermination may be communicated from decision module 88 to switch 84,and switch 84 may pass either the signal from path 42 a or the signalfrom path 42 b to receiver 22 based on the signal received from decisionmodule 88. For example, decision module 88 may be configured such thatthe signal received from path 42 a is passed to receiver 22 unless theintensity of signal received via path 42 a falls below a particularthreshold relative to a baseline power level (thus indicating a loss oflight condition), in which case switch 84 may protection switch suchthat the signal received via path 42 b is passed to receiver 22. Inaddition, as described in greater detail below with respect to FIGS.2-5, decision module 88 may dynamically vary the baseline power leveland threshold.

Receiver 22 may include any receiver or other suitable device operableto receive an optical signal. Receiver 22 may be configured to receiveone or more channels of an optical signal carrying encoded informationand demodulate the information into an electrical signal.

FIG. 2A is a flow chart illustrating a finite state machine 200 a inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure. Statemachine 200 a may be maintained by decision module 88, another componentof OUPSR device 80, or any other suitable component of optical network10. State machine 200 a may begin at state 202 in response to adetermination and/or instruction to provision OUPSR for a particularchannel. If, while in state 202, OUPSR device determines that a “clean”condition exists with respect to the channel over one or more paths 42,state machine 200 a may proceed to state 204. A clean condition mayexist where one or more parameters associated with the particularchannel indicate that communication via one or more of paths 42 isavailable. For example, a clean condition may exist when OUPSR device 80is present, a signal is detected on the channel by OUPSR device 80, andAlarm Indication Signal-Optical (AIS-O)=0 and Unequipped/Unvprovisioned(UNEQ)=0 for all paths 42 coupled to OUPSR device 80.

At state 204 decision module 88, another component of OUPSR device 80,or any other suitable component of optical network 10 may continue topoll for the continued existence of the clean condition for apredetermined amount of time (e.g., 3 poll cycles of OUPSR device 80).If the clean condition exists for the predetermined amount of time,state machine 200 a may proceed to state 206. If the clean conditionfails to exist during the predetermined amount of time (e.g., OUPSRdevice 80 is removed, failure to detect signal on the channel by OUPSRdevice 80, AIS-0=1, and/or UNEQ=1), state machine 200 a may againproceed to state 202.

At state 206, decision module 88, another component of OUPSR device 80,or any other suitable component of optical network 10 may apply andstore an initial baseline power level and initial threshold for one ormore of photodetectors 86. Thus, state 206 may be thought of as aself-calibration phase of OUPSR device 80. In some embodiments, theinitial baseline power level may be approximately equal to the intensityof light detected by a photodetector 86 during state 204. In the same oralternative embodiments, the initial threshold may be equal to apredetermined value (e.g., 5 dBm). After the initial baseline power andinitial threshold are applied and stored, state machine 200 a mayproceed to state 208.

At step 208, decision module 88, another component of OUPSR device 80,or any other suitable component of optical network 10 may maintain theinitial baseline power level and/or initial threshold until the cleancondition ceases to exist (in which case state machine 200 a may proceedagain to step 202) and/or OUPSR is deprovisioned for the particularchannel (in which case state machine 200 a may cease). FIG. 3illustrates an example graph of intensity of a light signal associatedwith a particular channel as detected by a photodetector 86,demonstrating an application of a baseline power level and a thresholdestablished by state machine 200 a depicted in FIG. 2A, in accordancewith certain embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes ofexposition of FIG. 3, it is assumed that the initial baseline powerlevel is established at a value of −10 dBm and the initial threshold is−5 dBm. While OUPSR is provisioned, a photodetector 86 (e.g.,photodetector 86 a) may monitor the intensity of light received via apath 42 (e.g., path 42 a). If, at any time while OUPSR is provisioned,the intensity of light received by the photodetector 86 has decreasedbelow the baseline power level by more than the threshold, decisionmodule 88 (or another component of OUPSR device 80) may cause aprotection switch on switch 84. The power level at which the protectionswitch may occur may be considered a relative loss of light (LOL) powerlevel, wherein such relative LOL power level may be greater than theamount of noise expected to be detected at the photodetector 86, butstill low enough relative to the baseline power level to indicate that aprotection switch is appropriate. Thus, a loss of light condition and anaccompanying protection switch may be triggered when an actual detectedpower level has decreased below the relative LOL power level, ratherthan being triggered as a result of absolute loss of light, allowing foreffective operation in noisy conditions.

FIG. 2B is a flow chart illustrating a finite state machine 200 b inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure. Statemachine 200 b may be maintained by decision module 88, another componentof OUPSR device 80, or any other suitable component of optical network10. As shown in FIG. 2B, states 202, 204, and 206 of state machine 200 bmay be similar or identical to states 202, 204, and 206 of state machine200 a depicted in FIG. 2A. In addition, state 208 of state machine 200 bmay be similar to state 208 of state machine 200 a, except that whenstate machine 200 b reaches state 208, decision module 88, anothercomponent of OUPSR device 80, or any other suitable component of opticalnetwork 10 may continuously monitor power at a photodetector 86 (e.g.,photodetector 86) to detect an average power intensity for eachparticular channel of interest. Such average power level may becalculated using any suitable number of previously detected power levelsfor a particular channel. For example, the average power level may be amoving average power level based on a predetermined number of recentdetected power levels (e.g., the five most recent detected power levelsfor the particular channel). If the average power level is greater thanthe then-present baseline power level, state machine 200 b may proceedto step 212.

At state 212, decision module 88, another component of OUPSR device 80,or any other suitable component of optical network 10 may modify thebaseline power level based on the detected average power level (e.g.,may re-establish the baseline power level to be approximately equal tothe detected average power level). After the baseline power level hasbeen modified, state machine 202 b may proceed again to state 208.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example graph of intensity of a light signalassociated with a particular channel as detected by a photodetector 86,demonstrating an application of a baseline power level and a thresholdestablished by state machine 200 b depicted in FIG. 2B, in accordancewith certain embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4,the intensity of light received by a photodetector 86 (e.g.,photodetector 86 a) on a particular channel may increase after OUPSR hasbeen provisioned for numerous reasons (e.g., an increase in noise takingplace after optical network 10 has been set up and OUPSR has beenprovisioned). Accordingly, the baseline power level established inaccordance with state machine 200 b may also increase over time toaccount for the increase in detected light intensity. Because theestablished threshold is not varied in accordance with state machine 200b, the relative LOL level will also increase each time the baselinepower level is increased, such that the difference between the relativeLOL level and the baseline power level is always approximately equal tothe value of the established threshold. In accordance with state machine200 b, if, at any time while OUPSR is provisioned, the intensity oflight received by the photodetector 86 has decreased below thedynamically changing baseline power level by more than the threshold(e.g., below the dynamically changing relative LOL level), decisionmodule 88 (or another component of OUPSR device 80) may cause aprotection switch on switch 84. Thus, a method in accordance with statemachine 200 b allows for variance in established baseline and relativeLOL levels to account for when increased noise is coupled into opticalnetwork 10.

FIG. 2C is a flow chart illustrating a finite state machine 200 c inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure. Statemachine 200 c may be maintained by decision module 88, another componentof OUPSR device 80, or any other suitable component of optical network10. As shown in FIG. 2C, states 202, 204, and 206 of state machine 200 cmay be similar or identical to states 202, 204, and 206 of state machine200 a depicted in FIG. 2A and/or states 202, 204, and 206 of statemachine 200 b depicted in FIG. 2B. In addition, state 208 of statemachine 200 c may be similar to state 208 of state machine 200 a and/orstate 208 of state machine 200 b, except that when state machine 200 creaches state 208, decision module 88, another component of OUPSR device80, or any other suitable component of optical network 10 maycontinuously monitor power at a photodetector 86 (e.g., photodetector86) to detect an average power intensity for each particular channel ofinterest. Such average power level may be calculated using any suitablenumber of previously detected power levels for a particular channel. Forexample, the average power level may be a moving average power levelbased on a predetermined number of recent detected power levels (e.g.,the five most recent detected power levels for the particular channel).If the average power level is greater than the then-present baselinepower level, state machine 200 c may proceed to step 210.

At state 210, decision module 88, another component of OUPSR device 80,or any other suitable component of optical network 10 may modify thethreshold based on the detected average power level. For example, thenew threshold value may be increased by an amount approximately equal tothe difference between the average power level and the then-presentbaseline power level, such that:New threshold value=Present Baseline Power Level−Average PowerLevel+Present Threshold Value

To ensure that a suitable difference exists between the threshold valueand the baseline power level, the calculated new threshold value may becompared to a predetermined minimum value. In some embodiments, thepredetermined minimum value may be zero, to ensure that that thresholdis not negative. If it is determined that the calculated new thresholdvalue is greater than the predetermined minimum value, the threshold maybe re-established with the calculated new threshold value, and statemachine 200 c may proceed again to state 208. If it is determined thatthe calculated new threshold value is not greater than the predeterminedminimum value, state machine 200 c may proceed to state 212, where thebaseline power level and threshold may be modified as described below.

State 212 of state machine 200 c may be similar to state 212 of statemachine 200 b, except that, in addition to modifying the baseline powerlevel based on the detected average power level, decision module 88,another component of OUPSR device 80, or any other suitable component ofoptical network 10 may also modify the threshold value. For example, atstate 212, decision module 88, another component of OUPSR device 80, orany other suitable component of optical network 10 may modify thebaseline power level based on the detected average power level (e.g.,may re-establish the baseline power level to be approximately equal tothe detected average power level) and also modify the threshold suchthat it is approximately equal to the initial threshold established atstep 206. After the baseline power level and the threshold have beenmodified, state machine 202 c may proceed again to state 208.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example graph of intensity of a light signalassociated with a particular channel as detected by a photodetector 86,demonstrating an application of a baseline power level and a thresholdestablished by state machine 200 c depicted in FIG. 2C, in accordancewith certain embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5,the intensity of light received by a photodetector 86 (e.g.,photodetector 86 a) on a particular channel may increase after OUPSR hasbeen provisioned for numerous reasons (e.g., an increase in noise takingplace after optical network 10 has been set up and OUPSR has beenprovisioned). Accordingly, the threshold established in accordance withstate machine 200 c may also decrease over time to account for theincrease in detected light intensity. In addition, if an increase in thedetected light intensity would otherwise cause a decrease of thethreshold below a predetermined minimum value (e.g., zero), the baselinepower level established in accordance with state machine 200 c may alsoincrease to account for the increase in detected light intensity, andthe associated threshold may be re-established to approximately itsinitial value to account for the changing in the baseline power level.Accordingly, due to the varying threshold and baseline power level, therelative LOL level will also increase as the detected power levelincreases. In accordance with state machine 200 c, if, at any time whileOUPSR is provisioned, the intensity of light received by thephotodetector 86 has decreased below the dynamically changing relativeLOL level, decision module 88 (or another component of OUPSR device 80)may cause a protection switch on switch 84. Thus, a method in accordancewith state machine 200 c allows for variance in established baseline,threshold, and relative LOL levels to account for when increased noiseis coupled into optical network 10. In addition, the method of statemachine 200 c may, as compared with state machine 200 b, reduce thefrequency at which the baseline power level is re-established, which mayimprove performance over the method of state machine 200 b.

A component of optical network 10 may include an interface, logic,memory, and/or other suitable element. An interface receives input,sends output, processes the input and/or output, and/or performs othersuitable operation. An interface may comprise hardware and/or software.

Logic performs the operations of the component, for example, executesinstructions to generate output from input. Logic may include hardware,software, and/or other logic. Logic may be encoded in one or moretangible computer readable storage media and may perform operations whenexecuted by a computer. Certain logic, such as a processor, may managethe operation of a component. Examples of a processor include one ormore computers, one or more microprocessors, one or more applications,and/or other logic.

A memory stores information. A memory may comprise one or more tangible,computer-readable, and/or computer-executable storage medium. Examplesof memory include computer memory (for example, Random Access Memory(RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (for example, ahard disk), removable storage media (for example, a Compact Disk (CD) ora Digital Video Disk (DVD)), database and/or network storage (forexample, a server), and/or other computer-readable medium.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to optical network 10without departing from the scope of the invention. The components ofoptical network 10 may be integrated or separated. Moreover, theoperations of optical network 10 may be performed by more, fewer, orother components. Additionally, operations of optical network 10 may beperformed using any suitable logic. As used in this document, “each”refers to each member of a set or each member of a subset of a set.

Although the present invention has been described with severalembodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to oneskilled in the art. It is intended that the present invention encompasssuch changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

1. A method for protection switching in an optical network, comprising:establishing a baseline power level for a channel; receiving a signalassociated with the channel via each of a first path of the opticalnetwork and a second path of the optical network; monitoring a powerintensity of the signal received via the first path; and protectionswitching from the signal received via the first path to the signalreceived via the second path in response to a determination that thebaseline power level exceeds the power intensity of the signal receivedvia the first path by a predetermined threshold.
 2. A method accordingto claim 1, wherein establishing the baseline power level for thechannel includes: measuring the power intensity of the channel during acalibration phase; and setting the baseline power level based on thepower intensity of the channel during the calibration phase.
 3. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein establishing the baseline power level forthe channel is in response to provisioning of an optical unidirectionalpath switched ring (OUPSR) in the optical network.
 4. A method accordingto claim 1, wherein a relative loss of light value approximately equalto the baseline power level minus the predetermined threshold exceeds apower intensity of noise in the first path.
 5. A system for protectionswitching in an optical network, comprising: a switch communicativelycoupled to a receiver and communicatively coupled to a first path and asecond path in an optical network, the switch configured to pass, foreach of one or more channels, a signal associated with the channel fromone of the first path and the second path; and a selectorcommunicatively coupled to the switch and communicatively coupled to thefirst path and the second path, the selector configured to, for each ofthe one or more channels: receive a signal associated with the channelvia a first path of the plurality of paths; monitor a power intensity ofthe signal received via the first path; in response to a determinationthat a baseline power level associated with the channel does not exceedthe power intensity of the signal received via the first path by apredetermined threshold, communicate a first control signal to theswitch such that the switch passes the signal associated with thechannel from the first path; and in response to a determination that abaseline power level associated with the channel exceeds the powerintensity of the signal received via the first path by a predeterminedthreshold, communicate a second control signal to the switch such thatthe switch passes the signal associated with the channel from the secondpath.
 6. A system in accordance with claim 5, the selector furtherconfigured to establish the baseline power level by: measuring the powerintensity of the channel during a calibration phase; and setting thebaseline power level based on the power intensity of the channel duringthe calibration phase.
 7. A system in accordance with claim 5, whereinat least one of the switch and the selector is a component of an opticalunidirectional path switched ring (OUPSR) device.
 8. A system accordingto claim 5, wherein a relative loss of light value approximately equalto the baseline power level minus the predetermined threshold exceeds apower intensity of noise in the first path.
 9. A system according toclaim 5, the selector including a photodetector configured to monitorthe power intensity of the signal received via the first path.
 10. Asystem according to claim 5, the selector including a decision moduleconfigured to: determine whether the baseline power level associatedwith the channel exceeds the power intensity of the signal received viathe first path by the predetermined threshold; and communicate one ofthe first control signal and the second control signal to the switchbased on the determination.
 11. An optical network, comprising: a firstcommunication path; a second communication path; a transmittercommunicatively coupled to the first communication path and the secondcommunication path and configured to transmit a signal via the firstcommunication path and the second communication path; a receivercommunicatively coupled to the first communication path and the secondcommunication path and configured to receive the signal via one of thefirst communication path and the second communication path a protectionswitching device coupled to the first communication path, the secondcommunication path, and the receiver, and configured to: receive thesignal via the first communication path and the second communicationpath; monitor a power intensity of the signal received via the firstcommunication path; in response to a determination that a baseline powerlevel does not exceed the power intensity of the signal received via thefirst communication path by a predetermined threshold, pass the signalfrom the first path; and in response to a determination that a baselinepower level exceeds the power intensity of the signal received via thefirst communication path by the predetermined threshold, pass the signalfrom the second path.
 12. An optical network in accordance with claim11, the protection switching device further configured to establish thebaseline power level by: measuring the power intensity during acalibration phase; and setting the baseline power level based on thepower intensity during the calibration phase.
 13. An optical network inaccordance with claim 11, wherein the protection switching devicecomprises an optical unidirectional path switched ring (OUPSR) device.14. An optical network in accordance with claim 11, wherein a relativeloss of light value approximately equal to the baseline power levelminus the predetermined threshold exceeds a power intensity of noise inthe first communication path.
 15. An optical network in accordance withclaim 11, the protection switching device including a photodetectorconfigured to monitor the power intensity of the signal received via thefirst communication path.
 16. An optical network in accordance withclaim 11, the protection switching device including a decision moduleconfigured to: determine whether the baseline power level exceeds thepower intensity of the signal received via the first path by thepredetermined threshold; and communicate one of the first control signaland the second control signal to the switch based on the determination.17. A system for protection switching in an optical network, comprising:means for establishing a baseline power level for a channel; means forreceiving a signal associated with the channel via each of a first pathof the optical network and a second path of the optical network; meansfor monitoring a power intensity of the signal received via the firstpath; means for protection switching from the signal received via thefirst path to the signal received via the second path in response to adetermination that the baseline power level exceeds the power intensityof the signal received via the first path by a predetermined threshold.18. A system according to claim 17, wherein the means for establishingthe baseline power level for the channel includes: means for measuringthe power intensity of the channel during a calibration phase; and meansfor setting the baseline power level based on the power intensity of thechannel during the calibration phase.
 19. A system according to claim17, wherein at least one of the establishing the baseline power level,means for receiving the signal, means for monitoring the powerintensity, and means for protection switching is in response toprovisioning of an optical unidirectional path switched ring (OUPSR)device.
 20. A system according to claim 17, wherein a relative loss oflight value approximately equal to the baseline power level minus thepredetermined threshold exceeds a power intensity of noise in the firstpath.